Katie's fight

On the 30th July 2008 I was diagnosed with metastatic malignant melanoma. I have found that talking about how I'm feeling and sharing this with others really helps me. Please add comments to help give me the positive energy to fight my biggest challenge.

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

This week is Melanoma Awareness Week so its quite appropriate that the Marie Claire article is out now. As well as a moving article about Katie it gives a list of suspicious changes to look for in moles. Marie Claire have also asked for permission to write more about Katie based on her postings on her blog.Also this week the aerobics girls at Hanbury will be unveiling the bench that they have raised money for and had inscribed with one of Katie's favourite poems. It will be placed in the formal garden behind the swimming pool.On the 2nd June we held the Interment of Katie's ashes with close family and a short service from Jo, the Vicar. It was another beautiful sunny day and Sophie played Pachelbels Canon at the graveside before letting off a helium balloon with a card that she had written attached. I still need to order a head stone but if anyone wants to know its - Hertford Town Cemetery on North Road, block F, row E.

Monday, 31 May 2010

Team Katie completed the run - and no one needed an ambulance! In fact personal bests were achieved by most of us! Thanks to everyone who sponsored us - we have well and truly smashed our target.Robert - I can genuinely thank you for my Christmas present now (5 months ago -being told my present was that I was booked on to a 10k run didnt seem such a great present!) but it was really good fun and I would definitely do it again. Not sure I am ready for a marathon yet though!

Friday, 16 April 2010

Sorry its been so long since the last post. Last week was Evie's second birthday and she had a party at Willows Farm for her friends and their siblings. She had a great time, the weather was perfect and she loved opening her presents. But I think the terrible two's actually started a couple of weeks ago for her - she knows what she wants and goes all out to get what she wants - with a very cheeky grin as she does it! This week we have been at Center Parcs and had another brilliant time. Katie had booked it for us before she knew the cancer had returned. She would have wanted us to enjoy it and we did! But we also spent a lot of time thinking, remembering and talking about things we had done and shared there with her in the past. And it was good to have Sam, Christian and family there and also to spend a day with Robert, Julijana, Noah and Farrah.

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

On Sunday a group of Katie's friends rode the "Pedal it Pink" marathon in tribute to Katie - each wearing "friends of a beautiful blonde" on their tops and lots of pink of course! We went with Katie's parents and Robert, Julijana, Noah and Farrah to support them. Once again the rain forcast at the beginning of the week turned into a bright, dry morning for the ride!

Also I took the donations from the thanksgiving service and party to the Hospice last week. In all we raised an amazing £2,678 for the Hospice, £550 for The Willow Foundation and £206 for Cancer Reasearch UK. So thank you to everyone who made donations to Katie's charities.

On the 31st May I, together with Katie's parents, Jane, Robert and Julijana, Tom and Marija, will run the Bupa London 10k raising money for the Hospice. Tom has set up a page on the justgiving website so I hope you can afford to make another donation - the link is http://www.justgiving.com/run-for-katie

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

We raised £427 pounds for Willow Foundation and £888 for Isabel Hospice by doing the walk. Thanks to everyone that turned out for it. The Hospice want to include an article about the walk in their newsletter which goes out to about 20,000 hospice supporters.

I have yet to get the donations from the Thanksgiving Service and Party to the charities for counting but I hope to do that in the next day or so.

Sunday, 21 March 2010

The sun shone again for our walk for Katie. Thanks to Fran and Tina for organising a great day with 37 balloons - one for each year of Katie's life, and a 5 mile walk through beautiful country side. I reckon between 100 and 150 people attended. I know we raised over £400 pounds for The Willow Foundation and even more for The Isabel Hospice.Katie would have been so impressed that Sophie and Sam managed the whole walk too. I was expecting complaints of tired legs half way round but there was none of it. They even ran part of the last half mile! Also thanks to the Creche team for looking after some of the youngest children, Evie included, so we could enjoy the walk without pushing buggies. It was a great day and one that I would like to repeat in the future.

PS I am talking to Marie Claire magazine on Tuesday as there was not enough time last Friday.